The WHo Sell Out poll "go to the church of your choice"

Have been hearing "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand" for 25-30 years and never realized the middle part was supposed to be flamenco.

I've been playing this off YouTube for my art classes the past couple of days. (I know the "Monday-Tuesday" intro will make them laugh and put them into a receptive frame of mind right away.) The album's not new to me or anything--got a copy out of my parents' basement pile 45 years ago. But, like a lot of albums, it basically narrowed down in my mind over the years to my two or three favourite songs ("I Can't Reach You," "I Can See for Miles"). I haven't really listened to it in a long time.

So good. I don't think there's ever been an album I consider perfect, one where I unreservedly love every song. This one comes close--almost as close as Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. I could do without "Silas Stingy" and "Sunrise," which I notice got no votes here. Completely endorse Christgau's retroactive A+. If there'd been Pazz & Jop in '67, it would have got my vote--wonder how it would have fared against Sgt. Pepper and Are You Experienced.

Agree about Silas Stingy,but Sunrise is gorgeous

yes, perfect album and yes, Sunrise is gorgeous

It was one of the happy setlist surprises when I saw them in 1982.

Ha, I remember being surprised that they did "Tattoo" on that tour.

I just looked up that gig (Birmingham, AL, Nov 82) and apparently they didn't play "Sunrise" -- but I swear I have a clear memory of them doing that song! They did do "Tattoo" though. (Faulty) memory is a funny thing.

I expect I'll regret you
But the skin graft man won't get you

Christ, this album is perfect.

I voted for 'Odorono' back in the day, but I'd switch it to 'I Can't Reach You' nowadays - just a beautiful song.

Also 'Silas Stingy' and 'Sunrise' are great - I'd take either over any track on The Who By Numbers that isn't 'Success Story' ...

Big fans of "The Who Sell Out" should check out the live at the Fillmore East 1968 collection. The set list at that point was from this LP. 'Relax' is a definite highlight of the set.

Miles is kind of a weak song really but it’s such a mind blowing track

Very surprised to see the love for tattoo here, i always thought that and silas stingy were the obvious duds on this otherwise-perfect album

Me and my brother were talking to each other, and we 100% agree on "Silas Stingy" but think "Tattoo" is perfect.

ha, mostly i just cant get over "i expect i'll regret you but the skin graft man wont get you", an all-time groaner of a rhyme

but tbf if id voted i might have honestly gone odorono so i might be nuts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MDbELRzjhU

What? "Tattoo" is great and the skin graft line is great too!

lol come on now, wtf is the skin graft man up to ffs? is he sneaking around stealing peoples skin?? also i just hate being made to picture skin grafts when im trying to enjoy rock music

Armenia robbed. Love it so much, wish they played it live (or at least on an official release).

For someone regarded (at one time, anyway) as one of the Great Rock Lyricists, Townshend uses a lot of dubious rhymes, silly imagery and forced concepts.

I've always liked the grotesquerie of Silas Stingy; it's like a Dickens story animated by Terry Gilliam.

That's Entwistle, though.

I know, the first paragraph was responding to the conversation about Tattoo, the second about Silas Stingy.

I assumed you knew, just clarified for the boys and girls.

lol come on now, wtf is the skin graft man up to ffs

Talking of clairfication. He's covering up the tattoo obviously, the point being that the narrator is going to wear his tattoo proudly all his life. In which case, I don't see the problem with the lyric.

Not covering up so much as removing and then grafting skin where the tattoo used to be.

yeah i get what hes saying is "i wont go to the skin graft man", but "the skin graft man wont get you" is such an unfortunate phrasing to my ears, that makes it sound like the skin graft man wants to take the tattoo, like the tattoo is in peril due to this man who wants skin. just a weird weird line imo.

it’s a bit of a mouthful, is my issue with “the skin graft man won’t get you”, too many consonants in a row

The Who, like all them Brit Invasion bands, wanted to be amusing as they were a silly pop band. And they were all very good at it until about 1970, when rock became serious art. The lack of concern for posterity is what separates 60s rock from 70s. Sun's not yellow, it's chicken, etc.

I used to think of "I Can See For Miles" as a pretty good song that I wasn't particularly into, but for some reason one day when there was an early, heavy snowfall and I had to drive all the way across town on summer tires to pick up my winter ones and it was an absolutely terrifying slow crawl through one icy intersection after another, I found myself singing "I Can See For Miles" over and over again as I drove, as a meaningless but reassuring mantra. No idea why that song of all songs popped into my head, but now I feel more affection for it.

The Who, like all them Brit Invasion bands, wanted to be amusing as they were a silly pop band. And they were all very good at it until about 1970, when rock became serious art. The lack of concern for posterity is what separates 60s rock from 70s. Sun's not yellow, it's chicken, etc.

Sheep from Animals and The Crunge from Houses of the Holy are just two of several funny 70s songs by Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3hv0cXJBTg

Tracklist here https://shop.thewho.com/products/the-who-sell-out-super-deluxe-box-set

Out of the 112 tracks, the only ones I've never heard in any form/didn't know existed are the Sunn Amps spot, "Facts of Life" (an Entwistle tune), and "Inside Outside USA."

Disc 4 is a convenient clearinghouse for their '68 studio recordings, but disc 3 -- studio sessions with chatter and such -- is what I'm really looking forward to.

New documentary on Sell Out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvXU3y-7gF0

"I'm an Ear Sitting in the Sky" <= is that for real?

Sorry, Pete, I'm not buying that one. I didn't think this was very good.

Awesome little documentary !

The footage of Townshend and the band explaining the concept of the album to John Peel and then playing him an acetate (I assume) of "Odorono" wsa definitely something I'd never seen before!

"I'm an Ear Sitting in the Sky" <= is that for real?

― Josefa, Friday, April 23, 2021 8:48 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Yep. Pete first mentioned in a 1979 interview that Speedy Keen called him right after Sell Out's release to say, "No, no, it's 'I'm An Ear'!" But in the new documentary, Pete says Keen called Pete "years later."

The odd thing about the documentary is that they spend more time on songs that weren't on the record -- "Jaguar," the Coke ads -- than on songs that were, like "I Can't Reach You," which itself goes unmentioned.

Maybe serious Who fans knew this already but it was news to me that Speedy Kean is singing co-lead on "Armenia" - for ages I wondered why that particular vocal sounded so weird.

I'm mildly tempted to poll 'I Can See for Miles' vs 'Helter Skelter' aka the heaviest songs evah.

Keen isn't singing co-lead; that other vocal track is Daltrey sped up. The engineer in the documentary was wrong.

xp

Really, wow. Wikipedia is wrong on that too.

"Anyone Who's Anyone" by Sloan is an interesting pastiche of this song, similarly sung at the top of the singer's range.

Wikipedia's also wrong about "Jaguar" -- that's Keith singing lead (with Pete taking lead on "the radio's blasting..." etc.).

I note that this is the third Classic Albums episode about The Who.

And there's also the 2012 Quadrophenia documentary, by far the best of all the Who album documentaries (sadly, no longer on YouTube, and never issued in a physical format).

Bradley’s Barn?!